‘Destiny: Rise Of Iron’ Weapon Tweaks Nerf Touch Of Malice, Thorn, And Universal Remote


The release of a new Destiny expansion typically comes with a good bit of weapon tweaks. The Rise of Iron expansion is no different and the 2.4.0 update being released today nerfs Thorn and Universal Remote, plus removes a key component of Touch of Malice. Meanwhile, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players should see buffs to Pulse Rifles, Sidearms, and Shotguns.

The biggest change to Bungie’s latest weapon tuning efforts hits the Touch of Malice and the current King’s Fall Raid strategy hardest. The gun was created primarily to bring down Oryx and players quickly discovered that the Blessing of Light buff from a Titan’s bubble would allow them to survive firing the weapon and the damage it does to its wielder longer.

Bungie does not appear to be a fan of players taking Touch of Malice and its last round benefits out of the Raid, however, where it’s been used to quickly destroy Challenge of Elders bosses. Today’s update will cause the weapon to remove the Blessing of Light buff, which means players will lose health to the self-damage infliction much faster.

[Image via Bungie]

Thorn is returning with Destiny: Rise of Iron, and it will get some changes after all. Bungie previously stated the weapon would perform the same as before, just at a higher Light level. That is not actually the case as the developer is reducing its base range by 25 percent. Hand Cannons, in general, are unchanged with the only variations to the category being a couple of bug fixes, and the new low rate of fire Hand Cannons coming in the expansion will be given a high range stat.

The Universal Remote Exotic Shotgun was supposed to be a fun weapon that can be equipped in the primary weapon slot to allow for more extreme play styles. Unfortunately, the Destiny community jokingly referred to it as a Sniper Rifle thanks to its extreme range of effectiveness. The 2.4.0 patch will reduce the range bonus from its intrinsic Exotic Perk by 75 percent. It will see an increased rate of fire and slightly lower damage as well.

Other Exotic weapons getting boosts include the Fabian Strategy, Dreg’s Promise, Boolean Gemini, and No Time to Explain. No others received nerfs outside of general changes to weapon classes.

[Image via Bungie/PlayStation]

Sniper Rifles in the mid-high impact range, for example, have received a decent nerf. Damage from the Thousand Yard Stare family of rifles has been reduced by almost 7 percent to prevent them from killing enemy Guardians in Crucible that have activated their super ability with one shot. Additionally, the LDR 5001 and Y-09 Longbow Synthesis weapons received reduced target acquisition capabilities.

The new Auto Rifles coming with Destiny: Rise of Iron have caused Bungie to tweak the ones that fall in the high rate of fire class. The maximum magazine size for the Doctrine of Passing family has been reduced while all middle rate of fire Auto Rifles see a 1.5 percent damage buff.

Shotguns received some love with a 2 percent damage increase for all but low rate of fire weapons while the spread penalty for the Full Auto perk has been reduced. The Immobious shotgun, in particular, received a decreased spread and a 60 percent stability increase.

Pulse Rifle damage for the Nirwen’s Mercy family has been increased 2 percent. Meanwhile, Sidearm damage is increased by 3 to 7 percent and received a number of other bonuses, such as increased stability and damage falloff starting further out, in the hope they will be utilized more by Destiny players. They even receive a 20 to 30 percent damage bonus when playing PVE.

[Image via Bungie]

Rocket Launchers will see an increased effectiveness for the Cluster Bomb perk while the distance Grenades and Horseshoes activates has been reduced from 1.3 to 1 meters. High rate of fire Machine Guns get a 4 percent damage boost, and there were only small bug fixes to Fusion Rifles.

Perks have received a tweaking pass as well with the complete details below. More importantly, Bungie has finally figured out how to get the Firefly perk to stop crashing the game for some Destiny players.

Take a Knee

  • Now activates after 0.5 seconds of crouching
  • Added flinch reduction (25%) and increased aim down sights speed by 25%

Exhumed

  • Added an extra +5 seconds (15 seconds total) of effect time

Cascade

  • Functional change: melee kills automatically reload a portion of the magazine

Surplus

  • Now increases carried ammo capacity

Grave Robber

  • Increased activation chance to 25% (from 20%)

Guerilla Fighter

  • Increased stability and range bonuses by 200% (think of it as a bonus Hammer Forged and Perfect Balance when the perk activates)

Magazine Perks

  • Magazine perks now give range bonuses
    • Removed impact stat bonuses that had no effect on base damage and only on the UI
    • Armor Piercing Rounds: adds +4 range, reduces -4 handling
    • High Caliber Rounds: adds +3 range, reduces -5 handling,
    • Skip Rounds: adds +5 range, reduces -3 handling, adds +5 inventory

Unflinching

  • Decreased efficacy of the perk from 25% flinch reduction to 15% flinch reduction

Bungie appears to have given more Destiny weapons a buff than a nerf with 2.4.0 update. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners can begin downloading the update now.

Destiny: Rise of Iron is set to release on Tuesday, September 20.

[Image via Bungie]

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